Handstand Help: Spiderman Hands

So much activity is going on in your body from your fingers all the way to your toes when practicing Adho Mukha Vrksasana, the handstand! And the mighty handstand is definitely a pose that many of us want to perfect, so I'll start to offer some tips from my upcoming handstand workshop at The Yoga Shop!

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Let's start all the way at the bottom and work our ways up. The hands are the foundation of the handstand. Just as your feet and toes make continuous adjustments to keep you balanced we standing, your hands and fingers make continuous adjustments to keep you balanced when handstanding. When standing, your toes are designed to grip the ground for balance, so we need to practice gripping the ground with our hands when upside down. I call this "Spiderman hands."

Press into your finger tips and pretend that your palm is a suction cup sucking up the floor or your mat. This will help you activate all of the forearm muscles and also reflexively activate your shoulder stabilizing muscles to hold all of your body weight on your arms. And of course, this is how Spiderman stays stuck to the wall.

Try it! The harder you squeeze your grip the harder your shoulder muscles start to engage.  Sherrington's Law of Irradiation says, "A muscle working hard recruits the neighboring muscles, and if they are already part of the action, it amplifies their strength. The neural impulses emitted by the contracting muscle reach other muscles and 'turn them on' as an electric current starts a motor."

Give it shot today and take your handstand to the next level! Also, be sure to pay attention to your fingers and keep them "alive" and working while your are practicing handstand. Your body gets a lot of information from them while you are hanging out upside down! Stay tuned for more, and check out the workshop if you can!

Namasté

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Hand picture from Corrective Exercise Solutions by Evan Osar